Baby Thank You Cards..........

Good Morning, how are you all doing? As you all know, my sister recently had a baby, so to save her worrying about buying Thank You cards, for all the beautiful gifts she'd received, I decided to make her some..

Because, I had to make so many, I went for a simple stamped card. I stamped the little onesie from the Inspired by Stamping, Oh Baby, then I stamped the separate stars stamp, in red, onto the front of the onesie, finishing of with a "Thank You".

I tied them up with some twine and added a tag, stamped "with love", just to make them a bit more special when I gave them to her.

It is "Anything Goes" over at Addicted to Stamps and More so I'm going to enter this card to the challenge.

Stamps used
Oh Baby (onsie and stars)
Cross Stitch (thank you)
Mason Jar Add-On II (with love)

Have a great weekend!!!!
xxxxDebxxxx

FO Friday..........Hermione's Everyday Socks.

I hope you have all had a good week, I'm back today to show you what I've been knitting over the last week.

There's a group on Ravelry called A Yarn Loving Mama, they are having a KAL this month and the pattern was for Hermione's Everyday Socks which is a free pattern.

I joined the KAL quite late through the month but I wanted to get them finished quick as they were for a friend's birthday. The pattern is worked from the cuff down but since I've discovered  toe up, I worked from toe up which was easy enough to do with this pattern and did short row heel and toe.

My friend, Pinda, is always cold whatever the weather so I've knitted them in Artesano 100% angora, which is so soft to the touch and very warm. I will recommend that she wears them as bed socks or when she's snuggled on the sofa, she could wear them for everyday use but been angora they won't be as hard wearing as something with a nylon blend.

I gave them to her yesterday and she was absolutely thrilled with them, I bet she wore them for bed, last night!!!!

If you'd like to see more FO's from other people, check out Tami's blog.

Have a great weekend.
xxxxDebxxxx

Daisy Chain ABC Sampler...........

Good morning, as I said on a recent post, I love Instagram, it's full of inspiration, which is where I first saw this embroidery.

The pattern is Daisy Chain ABC Crewelwork Sampler by Alicia Paulson and it is so pretty, it's a fairly large project and fits a 11" x 14" frame. I see it as a small project though as I concentrate on each letter, one at time, I normally work on it when we have a weekend away as it's very portable.

This is my first time doing embroidery so wasn't sure whether I'd pick it up but I had no worries with that. Alicia's instructions were excellent, very concise and easy to follow with lots of diagrams.I don't work on it all the time, it's more of a long term project but I'm absolutely loving it.

Totally changing the subject, I just wanted to share my youngest daughter's exciting week!!!! Last Wednesday when she got back from work, her first car was waiting on the drive.

To say she was excited was an understatement!!!!! Mick had picked her up from work and I've never seen her jump out the car so quick.

Needless to say she wanted her Dad to take her out in it, straight away.........

 So with some essentials I bought her, we all jumped in the car and went for a drive.

She did really well, anyway on Friday it was her driving test, she arrived home from work and she was so nervous, she felt sick, her hands were clammy. I really thought she'd be too nervous to concentrate on the test. Off she went and I sat for two hours like a nervous wreck, willing for her to pass.

I needn't have worried, she passed first time!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm so proud of her, she didn't have many lessons, though she'd booked one a week from her 17th birthday, her instructor use to cancel them quite regularly. I'm a very proud Mommy and I now have another taxi to run me around as I don't drive, lol.

Thanks for letting me share my proud Mommy moment, I'll be back tomorrow with another pair of finished socks.

xxxxDebxxxx

Mojo Monday #299........Vintage Frame Birthday Card.

Hello there, did you all have a good weekend? It was a quiet one for me, I went out Friday night so was tired all day on Saturday. I must be getting old!!!!!

I'm back today with this week's sketch from Mojo Monday, this week is Round or Square, I always go for the square but I might surprise you one time and go with the circle!!!

Here's my card.............

I went with Prima Divine paper range which I love, the doily is one of the papers, which I fussy cut. I stitched around the paper and stapled some lace to the front. I stamped the Inspired by Stamping Fancy Frame 2 and the sentiment from Heartfelt Greetings, then die cut out using the co-ordinating die, finishing off with a flower.

Supplies

Stamps- Fancy Labels 2, Heartfelt Greetings.
Paper- Prima Divine.
Pretties- Crochet Trim, Curly Flower.
Tools- TH Stapler, Fancy Labels 2 Die.

Thanks for stopping by
xxxxDebxxxx

FO Friday.......a little girls crochet bolero and a knitted shawl.

Happy Friday, everyone!!!! I'm back today with some finished projects. The first one is a little girls crochet bolero, which is a free Jenny Watson pattern from Deramores.

It is a fairly easy pattern to follow, the front and back is worked in one piece, which I love as there is minimal sewing together. I used King Cole Cottonsoft DK, perfect for summer knits, it's very soft and nice to work with, no splitting.

I crocheted this for my beautiful two year old niece, here she is wearing it, she's always very proud of her handmade clothes and tells everybody, "Aunty Deb made it", bless her.

Next is my Summer Flies shawl.

This is the first time I've blocked anything this large but it was absolutely fine. I soaked it in the sink for 20 minutes, then laid it out flat on a large bath towel and rolled it, like a swiss roll to remove excess water. I then put a dry bath towel on a bed, stretched and pinned the shawl to size, leaving it overnight to dry.

It really does make a difference by blocking and worth the effort, the shawl is twice the size and you can see the lace pattern so much better.

These are my two FO's this week, for other people's FO's, check out Tami's blog.

 Thanks for stopping by, have a great weekend.
xxxxDebxxxx

Socks from the Toe Up.........Dead Simple Lace Socks..

I've only ever knit a couple pair of socks before, a pair of Vanilla (plain) socks and the Crenate socks which were started from the cuff. I really struggled on the heels and I'm not great at Kitchener stitch. I persevered though and eventually finished them.

I've seen some gorgeous sock patterns but have always put off starting another pair until  I saw this book Socks from the Toe Up by Wendy D Johnson. I'd read that people find that they are easier to knit as the toes are knit in one so no Kitchener and the heels are worked in short-rows so no picking up stitches on the heel flap.

I've got quite a few skeins of sock yarn that I received when I was in a monthly yarn club, there isn't one pattern that I don't like in this book so my plan is to knit every one starting from the beginning and working my way through, I think they get more complicated as you get further through the book.

This yarn is a Blue Face Leicester called Dazzle 4ply from The Natural Dye Studio,  one advantage of doing toe up is if you are worried about running out of yarn, you can just keep knitting the leg until you get the desired length or you run out of yarn.

I split the one skein into two even balls, using my ball winder, firstly I wound the whole skein into one ball then weighed it and divided the weight by two. I then started winding a second ball from the first ball until I got equal weights.

There are three basic Vanilla socks at the start of the book so you can practise the three different heel and toe techniques that is shown in the technique section, before you start on the more complicated patterns.

I jumped straight in though and went to the first patterned socks in the book which are called Dead Simple Lace Socks, this pattern uses short-row heel and toe and didn't look to complicated to understand. I've got to say though, the written instructions are very easy to understand and very well written, which helped.

Another advantage with toe ups, is you can try them on at any time so you get the best fit for your foot, this is definitely a easier way for me to knit socks and I really enjoyed working on them. This pattern is very easy and after the first row, knew the chart pattern so I could work on these while watching T.V. or socialising at a craft group. I found I really had to concentrate with the cuff down socks but I will try them again if I see a pattern I like.

Here are my finished socks all blocked and ready to wear.

I'm not sure whether you can see on this photo but I love how the heel and toe have striped then the rest of the sock has just a variegated look.

Thank you for stopping by, I really appreciate it and all your lovely comments, make my day. Enjoy the rest of the week.
xxxxDebxxxx

The Reason I Love Instagram............

Happy Monday, today, I'd  like to share why I  love Instagram, I'm on other social network sites but don't really use them. Instagram is different, I love taking photographs and it's a place to share them, it's full of like minded people and a great place to see other peoples crafty makes and get idea's too, just search hashtags to find what you are looking for.

There are some really friendly, kind people on there, a few who I knew through blogging, some who I've got to know on Instagram.

I'm in a postcard circle, set up by one of the lovely ladies on IG, where I receive a pretty postcard each week and I send one to somebody different each week.

I've joined in different swaps, this one was called Colour Me Pretty Circle Swap, where you were given a swap partner and their favourite colours, you buy or make six items of their chosen colour and I received these gifts from another person.

All this was done without you knowing who you were going to receive from and on a set date, everybody opened their parcels and shared what they received and who from, by posting photo's on IG.

This was one of my favourite swaps, it was a private swap and it came about when one of the ladies asked if she could buy one of my crochet tissue covers. We came to an agreement that rather than exchange cash she would send me some goodies.

She has an Etsy store called A Treasure in Store, where she sells beautiful vintage items. She sent me a vintage bottle with a message inside, such a sweet idea, some locally made silver earrings, some shells from her local beach in North Carolina and a tin of vintage scrabble tiles, which spelt out my IG name.

So, this is why I enjoy this social network site, let me know if you are on there so I can follow you. Have a great week.

xxxxDebxxxx

Work in Progress Wednesday........Summer Flies Shawl.

Ok, so I'm a day late for WIP Wednesday, I did have all good intentions to write my blog post yesterday but time flew by and I didn't get the chance, better late than never though.

It's been a while since I've worked on my Summer Flies shawl by Hollie and Ella Knits, I've been concentrating on knitting baby items for the last few months, but now he is here and he's got plenty to get him through his first few months hence why I'm back to the shawl.

It is a pretty, lacy shawl and is such a lovely pattern to work on, it is worked in 7 different sections so you don't get bored.

Surprisingly, it is a fairly quick knit, I'd just started section 6, the last time I'd worked on it, in the last couple of evenings, I've finished section 6 and 7 and have just started casting off.

It is a pretty picot edge, hopefully I should get it finished tonight as I'm off to my craft group, then comes the tricky part for me, blocking. I've never blocked anything bigger than a granny square before, I know you should block most things but I've always thought, ahh, it will be fine but this really does need doing to show off all the beautiful lacy patterns. A lovely lady from the Must Stash Podcast Group has given me some great advice, so hopefully I should be fine.

Talking about this group, when I was blog hopping through my regular knitting blogs, I was reading Sarah's blog, Crafts from the Cwtch, and she had recommended a video podcast called Must Stash Podcast. I love watching/listening to knitting podcasts and always on the lookout for new ones.

I highly recommend this one, they are two friends named Steph and Stacie who are so much fun but also very informative. It's a fairly new podcast, with only 10 episodes to catch up on, which I did in two evenings.
They are so funny and made me chuckle a few times as well as learning something new, it was like having a couple of friends around the house, all I needed is a glass of wine and your knitting, you must check them out, even if you are a crocheter, you will love all the pretty yarn they show you.

When, I've finished this shawl, I 'd like to start another one, I have lots of 4ply/fingering weight yarn in my stash which I want to use. I want something to just throw over my shoulders in the summer, nothing too lacy, maybe more a pashmina style. If anybody have any suggestions, I would really appreciate it.

If you want to see what everyone else has been working on this week, check it out here. Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of the week.

xxxxDebxxxx

Trentham Monkey Forest.........

Good morning, I hope you all had a great weekend. I had one of the nicest for a long time. My eldest daughter lives up Stoke so we don't see that much of her, now. It was a gorgeous, sunny weekend so decided to have a drive up to see her.

I was deciding what we could do to make the most of weather, somewhere we could take a picnic and I remembered seeing signs to Monkey Forest, five minutes from where Jodie lives. I looked on the internet and it looked a fab place to visit.

We took my two nieces so my sister could have a bit of time with the new baby on her own, the two year old was so excited. When we got to her house, she was waiting at the door with her bag, ready to go, I walked up the drive and the first thing she said was " you're late". We were actually 10 minutes late, I don't know how long she'd been waiting there, bless her.

I highly recommend this as a place to visit, whether you are a family, couple friends or just for a nice walk. The monkeys are in  natural surroundings, as much as they possibly can be, there are no cages or fences and just walk around freely. You are asked to keep one metre away but they really are close enough to touch (not that you can).

Some of the females had just given birth and I could of cried with joy when I saw this mother and baby, isn't he adorable? It was so lovely to see these wonderful creatures at close hand in their natural habitat, playing games with each other, jumping around in the tress, feeding. One monkey, literally walked straight past us on the path, without a care in the world.

Spot the monkeys.

After we'd had a walk around the monkey forest, we were all getting hungry so headed to the picnic area. It was a lovely grassy area with picnic tables and a fab play area. 

Olivia had so much fun running around and getting lots of attention from her big cousins.

This place was really geared for families and children with two play areas, one for each age group, nothing was over priced like a lot of attractions. A good day had by all and we will be going back soon.

 A nice refreshing ice-cream after a long, fufilling hot day.

 We couldn't leave without visiting the shop for a souvenir of our day and a little monkey for this sweet baby boy.

Have a great week, my friends and thank you for letting me share my weekend with you.

xxxxDebxxxx